A Thousand Needles
by sleepyblaine
Summary: '"When me and my cousin were little we had a cordial fight, and it got in my eye. It stung, but not like this. This is like... a thousand needles."' My take on what happened when Blaine got slushied.
1. Chapter 1

Rachel helped Kurt drag Blaine, still screaming, up his stairs and to his room. Blaine was pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes, groaning, trying to stop the sting and failing.

"Put him down on the bed," Kurt said, voice laced with concern. Rachel set him down and stepped back, eyes wide. Santana and Brittany came in after them; Santana looking worried, Brittany looking clueless.

"Kurt, it stings!" Blaine cried, shoving his face into his pillow and rubbing his eyes furiously. Tears were streaming down his face and they made damp, dark tracks on the pillow. Kurt sat down next to Blaine and rubbed his back, wishing there was something he could do to make it stop.

"Santana, go get a cold flannel," he said shakily. "Rachel, call the doctor. Brittany… go help Santana."

Brittany nodded and turned to walk out of the room. "Bathroom's in here, Brit!" Rachel called. Santana rolled her eyes and walked towards the en suite, and Brittany turned back into the room and followed her. Rachel took out her cell and dialled the number for the doctor's surgery down the road.

"That must've been some pretty strong corn syrup, huh?" Kurt said helplessly as Blaine still sat writhing on the bed.

"There was something else in it," he said. "When I was – ow! – little, me and my cousin had a cordial fight. He dumped a bucket over my head and it went in my eyes. It stung, but not like this. It's like… a thousand fucking needles." His voice was on the edge of cracking.

Kurt bit his lip and listened as Rachel explained to the person on the other end of the line what happened. Blaine tried to open his eyes but he couldn't – they were too stingy and they were starting to swell.

"I'm so sorry," was all Kurt could say. Blaine rubbed his eyes and shook his head again.

"It wasn't your fault," he grunted. "It was that... damned Sebastian. He was going to slushie you and-"

"You jumped in front of it, I know," Kurt said. "You shouldn't have."

"I couldn't let it hit you," Blaine replied, squeezing his eyes shut. "You're so proud of that jacket. Whatever was in that would've ruined it."

"But you didn't know," Kurt said, feeling suddenly guilty. "It could've been a normal slushie for all you knew."

"But it wasn't," Blaine argued. "It's okay, really."

"No, it's no-" Kurt began to say, but Santana came out of the bathroom with a damp baby blue flannel, folded over four times. She handed it to Kurt.

"Sit up," he said, and Blaine did, face contorted in pain. Kurt gently put the flannel over his eyes, and Blaine's hands flew up to hold it there.

"Thanks Santana," he said. Santana nodded and stepped back, looking slightly pissed off.

"Okay, thank you," Rachel said into the phone, then flipped the lid down. She sighed. "The doctor can see us in 20 minutes," she said. "He wants to take some photos."

"Okay," Kurt said. "I'll drive."

"No, you sit in the back with Blaine," Santana said. "I'll drive."

Kurt nodded and stood up, tugging gently on Blaine's elbow. Rachel rushed over and put one arm around his shoulders, and so did Kurt, and they helped him down that stairs.

Piling into Kurt's navigator, Kurt took the middle and Blaine beside him, Rachel on the other side, Brittany in the passenger seat and Santana at the wheel. She took the keys off Kurt and shoved them in the ignition, turning them until the car chugged to life. They backed out of the drive.

"You need to call my mom and tell her where I am," Blaine said. "It stings so fucking much!"

"Okay, alright," Kurt said. "Where's your phone?"

Blaine felt blindly through his pockets and pulled out his Blackberry, dropping it in Kurt's lap. Kurt unlocked the screen and went into his contacts, scrolling through the list until he found 'Mom'.

It rung three times, then someone with a sweet voice answered. "_Hello?"_

"Mrs Anderson?" Kurt said. "Hi, it's Kurt."

"_Oh. Hello, Kurt_," Dianne Anderson said. She was kind, accepting, and always welcomed Kurt when he came over. "_Is everything okay?"_

"Not really," he said. "Blaine had an accident."

"_He… Blaine? Is he okay?"_ She instantly sounded panicked. "_Did someone beat him up again?_"

Kurt winced. "No, not exactly. We were having a little sing-off with the W-… some friends of ours and he accidentally got a slushie thrown in his face. It got him in the eye and it's quite painful, and the doctor wants to take a look. We're driving him to the medical centre right now."

"_Friends?"_ Dianne asked, and Kurt could tell she was frowning. "_Who?"_

"Just… some people from school," Kurt said quickly, because he didn't know how he could explain to Dianne that Blaine's former choir, the people that took him in when he was alone, injured him and just left. "Anyway, Blaine wanted to let you know."

"_Is he there?"_ Dianne asked. Someone yelled in the background.

"Yes," Kurt said. "But he can't open his eyes."

"_Hold the phone to his ear for me_," Dianne said, and Kurt did. Blaine sighed shakily.

"Mom? Yeah, I'm okay. It stings a little bit. Okay, a lot. Se...th. His name is Seth. No, mom, please don't…" Blaine sounded like he was pleading. "It was an accident. I'm fine. I'll see you at home later. Okay. I will. Bye, mom. Love you too."

Kurt took the phone away and pressed the 'end' button. "She says to say thanks for letting her know," Blaine said. "She said she was going to call principal Figgins and get 'Seth' suspended."

Kurt chuckled without humour and opened the door because they'd pulled into the parking lot. Rachel got out and ran around to help him again.

"You can go back to Blaine's if you want," Kurt called over his shoulder. "Drop the car and get yours. I'll just get my dad to pick us up after we know what's wrong."

Santana nodded and gave Blaine a pitiful look, even though his back was turned. "See you tomorrow!" she called, and then she drove away. Brittany waved until they were down the road.

"Let's go," Kurt said, and they headed towards the door.

Xxxxxxxx

"Mr Hummel? Miss Berry?" the doctor said when he walked into the waiting room. Kurt was biting his knuckle anxiously, as he wasn't allowed into the photographing room because of safety regulations. Rachel was flicking through a month-old Vogue magazine, not really taking any notice of what was on the paper.

"Yes?" Kurt said, immediately standing up. The doctor walked over to him and clasped his hands in front of his stomach.

"Are you his friend?" the doctor asked.

"I'm his boyfriend," Kurt said, ignoring the few looks he got from others in the room. "But that doesn't matter. Is Blaine okay?"

"I examined his eye," the doctor said. "Whatever was in that drink scratched his right cornea severely. He'll have to undergo surgery to repair it."

Kurt closed his eyes and held his head in his hands. Rachel walked up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Can I see him?" Kurt said, voice cracking. The doctor nodded solemnly and led them down a bland white hallway into a pastel green-and-yellow room with two uncomfortable-looking chairs, a desk with a computer, printer and millions of sheets of paper, a sink, and a small bed where Blaine sat with a gauze and an eyepatch on his right eye. His other was bloodshot and puffy, but at least he could open in.

"Blaine," Kurt said, rushing over. The doctor sat down at his desk and rifled through some papers; Rachel sat down on one of the chairs and crossed her legs.

"Hey," Blaine said, smiling slightly. Kurt took his hands and had a quick look at his uncovered eye.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Did it hurt?" Blaine nodded.

"I'm glad you weren't in here a few minutes ago," he said. "You didn't need to see that."

Kurt pouted and rubbed his thumb over the back of Blaine's hand. Blaine smiled up at him and blinked. It looked painful.

The doctor cleared his throat, but Kurt didn't let go of Blaine's hands. He just turned towards the man and waited for him to speak.

"Here are the papers," he said, handing a small stack of crisp white paper to Kurt. "Because he's fewer than 18 we'll have to get his parents to sign it and bring it back here before we organize the surgery. Blaine explained that his parents are indisposed at the moment so you'll have to bring them back another day." He flashed a fake white smile at Kurt, then Rachel, then Blaine. "You're free to go."

"Thank you," Blaine said, letting go of Kurt's hand to shake the doctors'. The man looked hesitant but he shook it anyway, and Rachel mashed her lips together in a hard line.

"Come on," she said, opening the door. Blaine jumped down off the bed and they walked out of the boring room. The doctor stared after the two boys holding hands for a second then closed the door, shaking his head slightly.

"I'll call my dad," Kurt said, glancing outside. How did it get so dark already? He slapped Blaine's hand away from his face where he was trying to rub his bad eye. Blaine grumbled and folded his arms.

"Come on, I'll buy you a drink from the vending machine," Rachel smiled, pulling on Blaine's shirt. Blaine smiled and followed her to the corner.

"Dad?" Kurt said when Burt answered the phone.

"_Where the hell are you, kid?"_ Burt said. "_It's eight o'clock! You could've at least text-"_

"I'm at the doctors, dad," Kurt interrupted. "It's Blaine."

"_Doctors?"_ Burt said, sounding as surprised as Dianne had. "_What happened?"_

"Blaine got rogue-slushied," Kurt said on a sigh. "There was something vicious in it. He has to have surgery."

"_I'm so sorry,"_ Burt said, all traces of anger gone from his voice. "_Is he okay?"_

"He will be," Kurt said, looking over at Blaine who was making puppy dog eyes at Rachel. Rachel looked adamant, and Blaine pointed to the chocolate bar like a child. Rachel shook her head and Blaine pouted, sticking his bottom lip out as far as it would go. Kurt chuckled. "We need you to pick us up."

"_Absolutely,"_ Burt said. "_Where is it?"_

Kurt gave him the address. "Can you drop Rachel home too?" he asked. Burt agreed and they said goodbye.

"Blaine!" Kurt called softly. "My dad's gonna be here in a while. Let's go get dinner while we wait."

Xxxxxxxx

"Thanks heaps, Kurt," Blaine said when they were back at home and Blaine was in bed. Rachel was downstairs, probably searching through Blaine's Disney movie collection. Blaine told her she could take what she wanted. Burt was talking with Dianne and Con Anderson, and Kurt cringed internally when he thought of what an awkward conversation that would be.

"Anytime," Kurt said, smiling. "I should get home."

Blaine nodded and sat up to give Kurt a goodbye kiss. Kurt returned it then stood back and smiled, grabbing his coat off the end of the bed. He walked out of the room, blowing Blaine a kiss (the curly-haired boy pretended to catch it and put it in his pocket, making Kurt smile) and pulling the door closed behind him.

He trotted down the stairs and his eyes fell on Con Anderson's face – he looked like he was trying to hold something in, and Burt looked genuinely surprised. Dianne's eyes were flickering between the both of their faces, and she had her hand on her husband's back like she was ready if something happened. The atmosphere was tense.

"Ready to go?" Burt said, in a tone that made it clear that he wanted to be anywhere but there. Kurt nodded and turned towards the cabinet where Blaine kept all his movies – she had a handful, about five, and she was grinning.

"Rachel," Kurt said, and she looked up like a deer in a spotlight. Her grin faded and she stood up, letting her hair hang over her face. Kurt shook his head and turned back to Con and Dianne.

"Thanks for letting us stay," he said. Dianne took his hands and gave him a watery smile.

"Thank _you_ for making sure he was okay," she said. "We really appreciate it."

Kurt smiled. "Anytime," he said. Dianne gave him a quick hug and thanked him again. Kurt looked at Con expectantly. He was studying Kurt with a look that read not approving nor disapproving. Dianne cleared her throat.

"Right," Con said gruffly. "Thanks."

"You're most welcome," Kurt said, voice like sugar. Rachel tried not to snigger, and Burt took a hold of Kurt's arm.

"We'll see you again, I'm sure," he said. Dianne nodded and beamed.

Xxxxxxxx

"Poor Blaine, to have a dad like that," Burt said later in the car after they'd dropped Rachel off. She was busy poring over the movies, which consisted of _The Lion King, Toy Story 3, Aladdin, Mulan _and the Broadway musical _Evita. _("Haven't you already got that?" "Yeah, but my copy's worn out.")

Kurt shrugged. "He tries to steer clear of him most of the time," he said. "Dianne's nice, though."

Burt hummed in agreement. _Teenage Dream_ played softly in the background.

"Thank you, dad," Kurt said. "You know, for going out of your way to do this."

"Hey," Burt said. "I'd do anything for you, you know that."

"I know," Kurt said. "Thanks for doing it for Blaine, as well."

"Anytime," Burt said. Kurt smiled at him, then looked back out the front window.

It was silent then, and as the song finished and changed to a new one that Kurt didn't know the name of, they turned down the familiar road to their house.

_A/N; WHOA. I haven't written for ages! That was legit the first story I could actually sit down and write without stopping or getting blocked or anything. It feels so good to be back :D you know the deal – R&R, and I'll reward you for it as best I can. Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N; I wasn't going to do a sequel. I wasn't even planning on writing the first one – it just came to me and I posted it and my friends liked it and someone was like hey, you should write a sequel and I was like nahh but now I'm sitting here in bed thinking hey, I should write a sequel. So here you go :)_

The days leading up to Blaine's surgery were awful. Kurt kept trying to convince himself that _hey, it's just a simple surgery to repair his scratched cornea; it's not like he's having open heart surgery or a lung transplant or whatever. _But it didn't work – there was still that feeling of dread in the back of his stomach that something could go wrong.

They'd taken Blaine into the hospital when he'd thrown a slight reaction to the painkillers the doctors had assigned him – he complained of stomach pain and he was pale, too pale. His mom had taken him to the hospital with Kurt hot on her tail in his Navigator, and everyone was panicky except for Blaine, who kept his spirits up with, "I'm fine, really, it's just a bug. It'll pass." But his mom wouldn't hear of it and took him straight to emergency, and they got him in right away to see the doctor. Everyone was relieved when they found out it was an ingredient in the drug – Dianne admitted that Blaine was allergic to it when he was little but he hadn't had a problem with it since he was younger than ten and how could she be so stupid for not checking the contents first?

After calming her down the nurse explained that it'd be best to keep Blaine in hospital now to monitor how he reacted to the new painkillers and his surgery was in a few days, anyway. After a little convincing from Kurt and a lot of convincing from Blaine, Dianne agreed. They sat in there with him all of that day, chatting and laughing and he wasn't any different, he was just in hospital with a bad eye and a slightly puffy face. After a few hours of talking about school and Glee club and Blaine had fallen asleep holding Kurt's hand and Dianne had gone out to get a coffee and everything was quiet, Kurt started to think about what the doctor had said earlier about there was the tiniest chance something could go wrong and in all the eye surgery's she's done she's never seen anyone that's lost even a little bit of their vision. But the words that kept playing over in his head were _tiniest chance_ which meant there was still a slight possibility that something could go wrong.

_He'll still have his other one,_ Kurt thinks to himself one day when he's doing the dishes for Dianne while she's at the hospital with Blaine. Con Anderson works a lot, and when Finn's with Puck or Rachel and Burt's at the shop and Carole's out visiting some relatives in Cincinnati and Blaine's in the hospital and just wants some time with his mom, his own house gets pretty lonely. He tries shopping but with Mercedes studying that weekend and Santana too busy doing something with Brittany, it's just not the same.

He too tries studying and getting his French assignment done but he's so worried about Blaine even the basic French verbs and phrases seem to him like he's learning a whole new language for the first time. Once he's cleaned his room once, twice, three times over until it's at an Emma Pillsbury level of clean he puts on his _Wicked_ soundtrack and sings through all the songs, pitch-perfect, over and over until his throat goes hoarse.

Then it's a drink of water and over to the Anderson house with a freshly-baked tin of cookies that he helped Carole make this morning; it's a grin, a cheery hello and a nice warm welcome. It's weird, Kurt thinks, walking into Blaine's house and not seeing his face. Even after Blaine being in hospital for four days and being at his house for the majority of two of them, he still automatically heads to the staircase that leads to Blaine's room before he realizes, he won't be in there. So he smiles, because Blaine's just a ten-minute drive away safe and warm in a medical centre where there are people at his beck and call and that's the best thing for him right now.

So why does Kurt still feel uneasy when he thinks about it? Is it because Blaine looks so weak in that bed? Is it because he's too pasty? Is it because the painkillers have made him lose most of his appetite and if you look really closely you can just see where his face is thinning out around his perfectly defined jawbone and his cheekbone is a little more prominent? Not by much though. _Stop being paranoid, Kurt_ he tells himself. He only wished it worked.

Xxxxxxxx

The day of the surgery arrived. Kurt wondered how Blaine looked so unphased, so calm. He was laughing, smiling, joking with the nurse (that had seemed to take quite a liking to Blaine, and Kurt didn't fail to notice how her face dropped when she saw Kurt kiss Blaine goodbye late one night when everyone else was asleep) and hanging out in the playroom with the little kids playing the Nintendo and reading books. It made Kurt feel good to see Blaine so comfortable around kids.

At least his appetite was better. He ate every bit of every meal they brought him, even though he complained after they were gone that the food was dry and tasted faintly of plastic. Kurt just laughed and told him to stop being fussy and then he pouted, so much that Kurt couldn't resist leaning over and kissing his bottom lip. That made Blaine grin and twine his fingers around Kurt's, and Kurt sat back and smiled and they turned on the TV to watch that hour's Disney movie which so happened to be Aladdin.

When they brought him jelly and ice-cream he was a good boyfriend and shared it with Kurt, despite his boyfriend's protests of, "No, I'll get fat!" Kurt always gave in, though, because the ice-cream was that really nice kind, the ones that tasted like not-too-sweet whipped cream and sugar. And the jelly was too watery but they didn't complain as they sat there together – sometimes Kurt would be on the recliner, other times he'd be curled up next to Blaine on the bed – passing the spoon back and forth and sometimes spooning it into each other's mouths without really taking much notice of what they were doing. They'd learned to deal with the looks from the nurses and other patients of that room, especially Mr Glenn who turned his back towards them and pulled the curtain across whenever Kurt was in the room.

Today Kurt was lounged out on the bed leaning against the pillows and Blaine was curled into his side, head on his shoulder and they were both quietly singing to _A Whole New World_ together when a doctor they'd both never seen before walked into the room with Dianne and their usual nurse. He looked rather taken aback when he saw how they were laying, did a double take on Kurt to make sure that he was indeed a boy and paled a little when he took in the sight but continued on with his assigned job anyway. Kurt went to sit up but Blaine put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr Anderson?" the doctor said. "I'm Doctor Carl Stevens. I just need to ask you a few questions and then we can put the finalities on your surgery documents and get you in as quick as we can."

Blaine nodded and sat up, crossing his legs and listening intently to the questions about his basic health, diet and exercise routine and answering when he had to. Kurt traced a light pattern on the small of his back where neither the doctor nor Dianne could see, and he was very impressed when Blaine didn't flinch because usually touches like that made him shiver.

"Alright then," Dr Stevens smiled. "I'll go talk to the nurse that will be operating on you and we'll see where we can fit you in." Blaine smiled back and thanked him, and the doctor nodded to him, to Kurt, then to Dianne, and after one more strange look at the two on the bed he exited the room.

"Some people," Dianne huffed under her breath. "Anyway! How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"Alright, I guess," Blaine replied. Kurt sighed.

"You're not nervous?" he asked. Blaine shrugged and answered, "Not really. I'm not looking forward to the pain when I wake up, though."

Kurt took his hand and squeezed it. "I'll be there when you wake up, okay? I promise."

Blaine smiled over his shoulder at him.

Xxxxxxxx

"Kurt? There's someone here to see you," Dianne said, poking her head in the door. Kurt was on the bed again but now he was alone, because Blaine had gone into the operating theatre about half an hour ago and he had approximately three hours to kill so he decided to catch up on this month's Vogue since he completely forgot about it in his worry about Blaine.

"I'm not here to see Kurt, I'm here to see Blaine," a too-familiar voice said from outside the door. Kurt's eyes widened when he recognised who it was and he swore under his breath, hastily rushing off the bed and out the door.

Leaning against the wall just beside was none other than Sebastian Smyth, dressed neatly in his blazer, tie and dress pants, the Warbler badge pinned to his lapel. Kurt wanted to rip it off. He was twirling a single red rose around in his hand and examining the ward with a look that could be described as nothing but utter distaste. His mouth turned up into a smirk when he saw Kurt.

"Hello, Kurt," he said, looking at him momentarily. Then he looked back at the cobwebs in the corner. "Is this seriously where they're keeping Blaine? I would've thought they could do much better for a private school boy-"

"Why are you here?" Kurt said through his teeth. Sebastian raised his eyebrows at him.

"Uh, I'm here to see Blaine," he said, as if it was obvious. "You know, apologize for slapping him in the face with that slushie." He looked bored.

"He doesn't want to see you," Kurt said, still seething. Sebastian frowned.

"That's not your decision to make," he said, trying to get past Kurt through the door. "Is he in there?"

Kurt blocked his way. "No, he's in **there** getting his eye repaired," he said, jabbing his finger in the direction of a door that read 'OPERATION – DO NOT ENTER' on it in capital letters. Sebastian nodded once.

"Right. Well, I bought this for him," he said, gesturing to the rose. He held it out to Kurt. "Would you make sure it gets to him?"

Kurt stared blankly at it, then back up at Sebastian. "What is this, a pity present?"

"I'm just being nice," Sebastian said, holding his free hand up. "Just take the flower, Kurt. Put it in some water or something, I'm sick of holding it."

Kurt groaned and took it between his forefinger and thumb. Sebastian grinned, satisfied. Just then, the nurse that had been tending to Blaine for the past few days walked past. She frowned when she saw the flower.

"Hi, Kurt," she said. She pointed to Sebastian. "Friend of yours?"

"Oh, we go way back," Sebastian said, still grinning.

"No," Kurt said, not taking his eyes off Sebastian. The nurse nodded.

"I see," she said. She held her hand out to Sebastian. "I'm nurse Jackie."

"Sebastian," Sebastian said politely, shaking her hand lightly. "I'm good friends with Blaine and I just stopped by to drop off this." He pointed to the rose that Kurt was still trying not to touch. Then his phone beeped in his pocket.

"Oh, well, that was lovely," Jackie said. Sebastian smiled and checked his phone.

"Well ladies, it was lovely talking with you but I have to go," he said. He looked pointedly at Kurt. "Wes wants to practise _Thriller_. That's the song we're doing for Regionals."

"The New Directions did that ages ago," Kurt said, inspecting his nails.

"I know, I saw the video," Sebastian smirked. "It was… cute." Then he smiled sweetly at Kurt, winked at Jackie, turned on his heels and strode out the door like he owned the place. Kurt scoffed.

"Don't sweat it," Jackie said, staring after him until he was out of sight. Then she clapped Kurt on the shoulder and whispered, "Blaine's smarter than that."

Kurt smiled at her and then scowled in the direction of the door Sebastian just exited before turning back into the room and dropping the rose into the trashcan. He sad back down on the bed and picked up his magazine again, but he couldn't concentrate; his eyes kept trailing to the pretty head of the rose that was sticking out the top of the bin. In the end he ended up getting up and picking it out, placing it lazily on the table. But only because Blaine would want him to.

_A/N; Reviews are lovely :) _


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